


With a Little Help From My Friends

by shadeshifter



Series: Finding Home [25]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), NCIS, Supernatural
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:42:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25377847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadeshifter/pseuds/shadeshifter
Summary: Five times Tony’s team helped Hotch and the BAU.
Relationships: Anthony DiNozzo/Aaron Hotchner
Series: Finding Home [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/35285
Comments: 23
Kudos: 199





	1. Aaron Hotchner

**Author's Note:**

> Sean isn't dealt with again after season 8, I figured his prison sentence probably wouldn't be more than 3 or 4 years, so this is set some time between season 11 and 12.

Tony rested a hand on Aaron’s knee and squeezed lightly. When Aaron looked at him, Tony could see the bags under his eyes. The BAU had been working non-stop to catch the serial killers that had escaped in Rawdon’s breakouts and before that Aaron had been accused of terrorism.

“You okay?” he asked softly when Aaron looked out the car window again. They were parked outside the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York and had been sitting there for the last ten minutes. 

“Fine,” Aaron said automatically and Tony smiled wryly. With a sigh, Aaron scrubbed a hand down his face and shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Just let me know what you need.”

Aaron was silent for a long moment, then he moved his hand to cover Tony’s and entwined their fingers. 

“I don’t need anything, but I appreciate you being here with me for this.”

“Of course,” Tony said and they sat for a moment longer before Aaron breathed in deeply to settle himself. 

“Okay,” he said with a firm nod and he stepped out of the car. Tony followed a moment later, walking at his shoulder. The front door of the building opened before they reached it and a man in his mid-thirties stepped out, his dark blond hair shadowing his eyes. 

“Aaron,” the man said stopping short and letting the door fall shut behind him. 

“Sean.”

They hesitated for a moment longer before Aaron stepped forward and hugged his brother. They embraced awkwardly for a moment before separating.

“Didn’t think you’d come,” Sean said, his posture tense and defensive.

“We’re family,” Aaron told him, like that was all it took and Tony knew, for him, it was. But that didn’t always make things easy or simple. Aaron might have been there when he was arrested, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be there when he was released.

“Who’s he?” Sean asked instead, nodding to Tony. “Didn’t want to come see me without some FBI backup?”

“It’s not like that.”

Tony rested a hand on Aaron’s shoulder before he could work himself up. Aaron breathed out slowly and leaned back into him.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Sean,” Tony said with his friendliest smile. He held out a hand, the other remaining on Aaron’s shoulder. “I’m Tony.”

He wasn’t sure how much Aaron wanted to reveal, how much Sean already knew, and this was Aaron’s family. It was up to him how he wanted to deal with his brother. Sean looked between them like he didn’t understand why Tony would be there if he wasn’t there in an official capacity.

“He’s my fiance,” Aaron said, gaze focused intently on Sean’s expression, catching every micro-expression. 

“Fiance?” Sean asked, taking a step back and looking at Aaron like he’d never seen him before. “You never said anything about this.”

“Why don’t you come with us and we’ll discuss this.” 

Aaron stepped forward and Sean flinched back. It was clear that they were too used to not understanding each other, too used to not seeing where the other was coming from. Tony briefly tightened his hold on Aaron’s shoulder, a silent request to stand down for just a moment. 

“Jack’s been looking forward to seeing his uncle Sean,” Tony told Sean, still keeping his easy going smile. “He hasn’t been able to talk about anything else for weeks.”

“Really,” Sean said, the beginnings of a smile showing for the first time.

“Really,” Aaron agreed, shoulders relaxing as the tension between them eased. “Please, just come for dinner. Let Jack see his favourite uncle.”

“I’m his only uncle,” Sean said, but he followed them to the car.


	2. Spencer Reid

Dean checked the gun, making sure it had silver rounds, before handing it over. Spencer held it carefully, feeling the weight of it, before holstering it. Dean turned next to his assortment of knives, looking them over before picking a small silver knife.

“This is just in case the skinwalker gets close to you, but it shouldn’t come to that,” Dean said and Spencer stared at the blade for a long moment without moving, barely even breathing. 

“You’ll be fine,” Sam said, patting his shoulder. “We’ll look after you.”

Spencer looked up with wide eyes then, his skin even paler than usual. He hadn’t been the same since the demon, a lot of them hadn’t. Spencer was just struggling a little more than the others, which Dean couldn’t really blame him for, not with his family history. Spender's team wasn’t really equipt to help him, which left Dean. And Sam, because there was no way Dean was subjecting Spencer to Lindsey in his state. Adam would no doubt treat Spencer kindly, but he was his own issue altogether. 

“I’m not sure I can do this.”

“What’s worrying you about it?” Sam asked, expression soft and sympathetic in that way he managed so easily. 

“I can’t just kill something.”

“You won’t have to, we’ll take care of that,” Dean said.

The plan was to take Spencer on a hunt, let him see the supernatural somewhere other than just his head. Give him the validation of sharing the experience. But taking that final step was too much for a lot of people. The thing was, Dean and his team only went after things that were killing people and couldn’t be stopped. There wasn’t anywhere they could be locked away, not with any real security, and that wouldn’t change the nature of most of the things they hunted anyway. Rehabilitation wasn’t always possible. Death was often the only solution to keep people safe. 

“We do this to make people safe,” Dean added. “Because if we don’t, no one else will.”

It had been the family business, the family burden, for generations. Maybe Spencer shouldn’t have been involved; his life might not have been happier, not with his job, but it would have made sense if he hadn’t been. But there were few hunters that had a choice in the matter, and the only thing that kept most of them going was making sense of what had happened to them, making it mean something, making a difference for someone else. 

“If you’re not feeling up to it, you don’t have to come,” Sam said.

Spencer stared down at his hands again before clenching them and looking up again.

“I need to do this. I need to see for myself.”

“Lets go over what we’re looking for again,” Dean said.

“Skinwalkers are dog-like creatures that are considered cousins to werewolves,” Spencer recited. “They’re not affected by the full moon, but they are vulnerable to silver. They feed on human hearts.”

He looked calmer then, more settled, with the comfort of his knowledge behind him. 

“And a single bite can infect you.”

“Right,” Spencer said, gripping the knife more firmly in his hand. “Okay.”

“You ready to go?” Sam asked.

Spencer didn’t reply, but he did nod firmly. 

“Come on, kid,” Dean said with a grin. “Lets go kick some ass.”


End file.
